Up to 90% of all Americans experience back pain at some point in their lives. If you have ever experienced back pain, you know how inconvenient it can be. Pain in the lower back is even more painful. The thing about low back pain is that it is normally a disease in itself. Instead, it is usually indicative of another condition. This is the start of a short series on back pain. The reason behind this is that I have had lower back pains for a week. I have always had back problems but I have not experienced this kind of pain before and it is seriously hampering my activities. I have been on pain killers for the past few days and even if they do alleviate the pain, it is not totally gone. ...

If you find out that you have tachycardia, what are you supposed to do? The obvious answer would be to consult with your doctor and figure out things that you can do in order to treat your condition. One thing is for sure – the treatment options will depend on the cause of tachycardia. One common option would be to prescribe medication. These drugs are meant to slow down the heart rate and some of them may have to be taken for life. This, of course, depends on the nature of the tachycardia. Another option would be to undergo non-surgical procedures. There are several different treatment types that fall under this category, all of which do not require open surgery on the chest. Since the procedures are non-invasive, the patient can normally resume most or all of his or ...

In the last post, we had an introductory look at what tachycardia is. Just to recap very briefly, tachycardia is a general term for conditions wherein the heartbeat of an individual exceeds 100 beats per minute. So what can cause tachycardia? In their web site, the Mayo Clinic differentiates between people who have heart disease and those who do not. Just because a person has tachycardia does not necessarily mean that he has a heart disorder. This comes as a relief to me because while I am open to the possibility that I may have tachycardia, I really do not want to have any trouble with my heart (who does, anyway?). Here is the list that I found at the Mayo Clinic’s site: • An overactive thyroid or other metabolic imbalance • Damage or microscopic abnormalities in the muscles of the atria (upper heart chambers) • Abnormalities ...

The other night, I was alarmed to feel my heart pounding so hard. I was not stressed, I was not physically overexerted. In fact, I had just spent a couple of hours reading in bed and was feeling totally relaxed. That is why I was quite surprised when my heart just started pounding so hard that it seemed that I could feel my heartbeat all over my body! This, of course, prompted me to look this symptom up on the Internet. I didn’t really feel any other “scary” symptom so I didn’t think to go to the doctor. Yet what I have found is faintly alarming. I might have tachycardia. Tachycardia is defined as a condition wherein the heart rate is more than 100 beats per minute. That night, my heart was beating at about 130. ...

If you are a smoker, you’ve probably heard this line so many times you cannot even begin to count it – smoking is bad, you’ll probably die of cancer at a young age. Maybe you’ve been told something along those lines, not exactly the same words. The idea is the same though – the general belief is that there is a direct correlation between smoking and lung cancer. And why not? After all, we all know that smoking is not good for the health. Then again, smokers know that it is not that easy to quit. Now I am not advocating smoking here but here’s something to think about. There are people who are heavy smokers for most of their lives and yet live to a ripe age. Then again, there are people who maybe light or moderate smokers ...

These are the words that I have been yearning to hear for the longest time now – keep on eating! If my doctor told me to keep on eating, I’d keep seeing that doctor forever. Context is everything though – these words are quite real and applicable, but to specific circumstances. I ran across an article on iVillage, which details the findings of a new study: You may no longer need to remember whether it's "starve a cold, feed a fever" or vice versa. New research suggests you should just eat. A study of deer mice has found that reducing the amount of food the mice ate impaired their immune system. The findings are published in the May/June issue of Physiological and Biochemical Zoology. The researchers found that decreasing the amount of food the mice ate by 30 percent significantly decreased the number of ...

Given that the liver can be prone to specific problems, there are ways by which you can avoid these problems. Here are some of those ways to keep your liver healthy. Drink in moderation Remember my friend? He has stopped drinking – not totally but he does not go out every night anymore and when he does drink, he stops at a couple of bottles of beer instead of the 6 to 10 that he used to drink at a time. Studies show that even just a drink or two can accumulate over the years and cause liver problems eventually. Drugs and alcohol don’t mix Yup, if you are under medication, stay away from alcohol. More so, do try to be adventurous and take pills with alcohol. The chances are that the only adventure you’ll end up with is at the ...

As I mentioned in the previous post, the liver is a very resilient organ. It can repair itself even if it has incurred a lot of damages. However, this resilient nature does not mean that it is immune to destruction. In fact, the liver is prone to specific diseases that can arise if it is not taken care of properly. Let’s take a look at some of the most common liver problems. Fatty liver No, I am not talking about the French delicacy foie gras, although that is also translated directly as fatty liver. Fatty liver disease in humans is due to too much alcohol consumption. What happens is that the liver swells with fat. If this fat further swells, it can cause alcohol hepatitis or cirrhosis. The former is reversible and can be dealt with ...

Just yesterday, I received some news about a person very close to me. He had been having some health issues so he went to the doctor for some tests last week. The results of his blood chemistry came out yesterday and it seems that he has some problems with his liver. They are doing additional tests today to find out more about his condition. They are hoping, of course, that it is nothing serious but with his lifestyle (oh yes, he can drink most men under the table), I cannot help but be seriously concerned. This prompted some research on liver problems and thus this series of posts on the liver. So what is the liver’s role in keeping us healthy? Basically, it keeps our body clean. Everything that we ingest – food, drink, ...

What do you do when you get a cold? More so, what do you do to avoid getting a cold? I have heard about so many home remedies for and preventive actions against the common cold. Yet the common cold just seems to be just that – all too common. The usual way by which a lot of people try to fend off colds is to ingest large quantities of vitamin C. Now I am not saying that this does not work – I actually am a huge believer in this method. Research also shows that regular intake of this vitamin helps maintain one’s immune system. No conclusive evidence has been found to show that vitamin C does boost one’s immune system, though. So maybe I am not doing it right… Some research, however, has ...